The new Continental GT will do for not just an Indian but a global audience which for the most part will be all new as well as spanning the genre from classic oldies to trendy, for those who love motorcycling for the joy of being one with the machine and delight in soaking up the power pulses from a large single-cylinder thumper with probably the best handling characteristics ever for a bike Continental GT which made by Royal Enfield.
This bike is a stylish racer with low handlebars, bright red paintwork and racing-style humped seat. The original Continental was one of the last bikes built before Royal Enfield closed its original factory at Redditch, south of Birmingham, in 1967, was a tuned 250cc single aimed at young riders. This visually similar Continental GT of almost half a century later is the most powerful and glamorous bike yet from Royal Enfield’s new factory in Chennai, India. But it’s still a simple, air-cooled single-cylinder roadster that produces less than 30bhp and costs just over £5,000.
The Continental is a development of Royal Enfield’s old favourite, the Bullet, which has been modernised during the past decade while keeping its appearance and character intact. In that time Enfield has established itself as India’s premium brand and increased annual production to more than 150,000 bikes, it looked to Britain once again for inspiration when it came to the Continental. It was designed in collaboration with Northumberland-based Xenophya, while for chassis expertise Enfield chose Harris Performance of Hertford, famed for building frames for Barry Sheene.
While there were tremendous learnings coming its way the most important aspect which dawned on Sid and his band was that they had a brand that had character aplenty but more than that the brand also incidentally happens to be the oldest British motorcycle marque yet in existence in the world! This heritage and legacy is something which has been an ongoing one even after Royal Enfield ceased to exist as an entity in the UK in 1967 but the Indian arm soldiered on. Triumph may be back on the scene but this is an all-new entity with no connect to the old firm except bearing the original firm’s logo and with bikes that are well, very much contemporary ‘Japanese’ in character and configuration. There are attempts to revive Norton but yet again these are contrived and this is exactly where Royal Enfield has that vital edge.
In fact if one has to make a comparison then it is only Harley-Davidson which comes close to rivalling Royal Enfield, both having started in the early years of the last century, the British marque was rolling out bikes a year earlier than its Yankee rival. Also Harley-Davidson has stayed true to its trademark vee-twin engine layout and continues in this vein to this day while having dabbled with small singles and twins over its 110 year plus history. Now if you are wondering whether Enfield India as well as Royal Enfield also did other bikes then yes it did scooters, small 125s, 150s, 175s, 200s and also 35cc, 50cc and 75cc mofas, mopeds, and scooters to boot, with such evocative names as Crusader, Prince, Mini-Bullet, Mofa, Fantabulous, Zundapp, et al. So the model mix was heady but inconsistent before the Eicher era but once Sid and his team got to grips it has been the push-rod single cylinder Bullet engine which has predominated their thoughts and redoubled their efforts to take this unit further.
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